Page turning device



March 26, 1968 WALLENBERG 3,374,701

PAGE TURNING DEVICE Filed Nov. 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

INVENTOR FRITZ WALLENBERG wig W3, [GUS/2:6

ATTORNEY March 26, 1968 WALLENBERG 3,374,701

PAGE TURNING DEVICE Filed Nov. 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet Z United States Patent Office 3,374,701 Patented Mar. 26, 1968 3,374,701 PAGE TURNING DEVICE Fritz' Wallenberg, 2 Bellevue Heights, Binghamton, NY. 13905 Filed Nov. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 592,207 3 Claims. (Cl. 84-521) This invention relates to an apparatus for turning the pages of a book. a folder, or, particularly, sheet music, without necessitating the use of the hands.

A performing artist playing a musical instrument, as well as the conductor of an orchestra, finds it very inconvenient to turn the pages of a musical score. The hands are needed to perform more important functions, often at a time when it is necessary to follow the score on the reverse side of the sheet.

' Persons handicapped in using their hands due to illness have similar difficulties in reading a book, requiring somepaths of the moving elements.

It is a particular advantage of the invention that the page turning device in accordance therewith is of compact construction and is a simple instrumentality which may easily be attached to a music stand or a musical instrument, such as a piano, and operated at a point remote therefrom by means of a foot pedal or by electromotive means by the actuation of a switch.

Other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of the invention, defined in particularity in the appended claims, and taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view in perspective of the page turning device in operative position on a conventional music stand;

FIG. 2 is a partial side view shOWing one form of the fastening means;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the device illustrating the motion and relative position of the lifting arm at random points over its travel; and I FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the assembly and component elements of the page turning apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, the perspective illustration in FIG. 1 shows the outlines of a music stand of a conventional construction having an inclined support 6 and a ledge 7 mounted on an upright standard 8. Other portions of the music stand, such as collapsing feet, etc., are not shown since these are not material to the under standing of the invention.

The component elements of the page turning device are mounted on a base plate 10 which has two upright members 1-1 and 12 for the support of pulleys 13 and 14, respectively, which serve as guides for the actuating cords 16 and 17. At the upper portion of plate 10, and secured to it by means of bolts 20 and 21, is a block 22. The latter carries a downwardly-extending pivot stud 23 and an upwardly-extending pivot stud 24. These pivot studs are displaced from each other at a certain distance, substantially over the center of the block 22. This displacement between the pivot studs 23 and 24 is of particular significance with respect to the gist and operation of the present invention.

Over the stud 23 and pivotally supported thereby are a plurality of stacked plates 26 carrying at the ends thereof lifting fingers 27 consisting of bent rods of ferromagnetic material. Each rod has an upwardly-extending straight portion 28 and a downwardly-extending portion 29 and horizontal portions 30 progressively increasing in length so that portions 29 will overlap and lay flat in the rest position shown. A collar 32 secures the plates 26 over the stud 23 and may be held in place by a roll pin 33. Spacers 34 between the plates 26 assure a distance of separation for free pivotal movement. A cutout 35 in the base plate 10 accommodates the assembly of parts carried by the stud 23.

The portions 29 of fingers 27 fit between the pages of a book or sheet music 36 (FIG. 1) and are cut to a length to assure sufficient contact for engagement in the turning of pages as will be explained in connection with the operation of the invention;

The pivot stud 24 extending upwardly and secured to the block 22 carries a freely rotating actuating pulley 37 having dual grooves 38 and 39, respectively. The pulley 37 is held on the stud 24 by retaining ring 25. To the pulley 37- is attached, by any suitable means, the hub 31 of the lifting arm 40 also freely pivoting over the stud 24. The lifting arm 40 extends in the direction of the lifting fingers 27 and carries at its end a permanent magnet 41 having pole pieces 42 which are adapted to engage in rest position the upright-extending portions 28 of the fingers 27. Within the groove 38 and attached to the pulley 37 by means of the screw 43 is the cord 16 and, similarly, within the groove 39 and attached to the pulley 37 by means of the screw 44 is the cord 17. By virtue of these attachments, a force exerted on the cord 16 in the downward direction will cause counterclockwise movement of the pulley 37; whereas a force exerted in the downward direction on cord '17 will cause clockwise movement.

Any rotational movement of the pulleys will cause pivotal movement of the lifting arm 40 over the pivot stud 24. The cord 16 is biased by a spring 45' attached to the base plate 10. The cord 17 terminates at the core of a flexible shaft 46 secured to the back of base plate 10 by means of a clamp 47.

The entire assembly may easily be mounted on the page support of a music stand, such as the support 6 in FIG. 1, by means of the clamp arrangement shown in FIG. 2 consisting of the plate member 49 attached to the back side of base plate 10 by means of screws 50 and 51 spaced therefrom by a spacer bar 52 so as to accommodate therebetween a supporting member. Thumb screws 53 and 54 threaded into plate 49 assure rigid clamping of any upright support on which the apparatus is to be mounted, as for example, the upright member 6 of the music stand or the music rack of a piano, etc. The flexible shaft 46 may be of any desired length to assure remote actuation of the apparatus and may terminate in a foot pedal 55 as shown in FIG. 1.

It is obvious that, if desired, electric means may be used in place of the cord and flexible shaft actuation of the lifting arm 40. A small reduction gear type motor may be coupled to the pulley 37 with suitable limit and reversing switches to effect the page turning travel and return of the arm 40.

. Referring to the operation of the page turning apparatus described above, it is seen in FIG. 1 that pages 36 of a folder are prepared on the ledge 7 of the support 6 to have the downwardly-extending portion 29 of the fingers 27 placed between them. The lifting arm 40 is in rest position, the magnet 41 engaging the first rod 28. When it is desired to turn a page, the foot pedal 55 is depressed which pulls down the core of the flexible shaft 46, and

thus the cord 17 which is attached to the pulley 37. This produces a clockwise rotation of the pulley 37, carrying with it the lifting arm 40. As the latter moves right to left it carries with it the first finger 27 and thus the first page of the folder.

Since the finger 27 and the arm 40 have different lengths, positioned at the start to coincide, and have pivot points displaced from each other, each will describe a different are from that of the other. The fingers 27 describe an arc of larger radius than that of the arm 40; consequently, as the arm 39 travels from right to left carrying the rod 28, the latter is constrained not only to follow the arm 40 due to magnetic attraction, but also to slip over the pole faces 42 progressively outwardly. As illustrated in FIG. 3, nearing the end of travel, when the are described is approaching 180, the rod 28 is disengaged from the magnet 41. At that time the page has been turned and now the arm 40 is free to return for the next operation. The return movement is effected by the spring 45 which, when the foot pedal 55 is released, pulls the cord 16 over the pulley 13 and rotates the pulley 37 counterclockwise, moving the arm 40 from left to right into rest position to engage the next rod 28 of a page turning finger 27.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for turning the pages of a folder, particularly sheet music, comprising a support accommodating said folder in a position convenient for reading, a plurality of ferromagnetic page-engaging fingers each adapted to be placed between successive pages of said folder, said fingers being affixed to plates arranged over a pivot for movement in an arcuate path in a plane transverse to said pages, the rotation of each of said fingers over said pivot at substantially 180 effecting the turning of a page, a lifting arm pivotally supported over a stud placed adjacent to and at a predetermined distance from said pivot, said arm describing an arcuate path in substantially the same plane as the path of said fingers, the radial length of said arm being different than the radial length of said fingers, a permanent magnet affixed to the end of said arm and having a pole-face surface adapted to engage an adjacent finger, power means for rotating said arm in one direction from engagement position of said magnet over said arcuate path, the force of said magnet causing the attracted finger to follow said path thereby turning a page, said attracted finger during movement over said pivot being constrained due to the difference in radial length and pivot points between said arm and said finger to progressively slide over said pole face, the radial distance being so dimensioned with respect to the length of said surface as to effect disengagement of said finger from said magnet at the end of said page-turning travel, said arm upon rotation in the reverse direction being returned to pick up the next adjacent finger.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lifting fingers comprise ferromagnetic rods, each bent in such manner as to have an upwardly-extending portion for engagement with said magnet, a horizontally-extending portion, and a downwardly-extending page-turning portion, said horizontally-extending portions being of progressively greater lengths whereby said fingers may be stacked in substantially fiat relationship. I

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said power means for said lifting arm comprises cords secured to a pulley attached to said arm, said cords being carried over pulleys, one being tensioned by a spring secured to said support and the other terminating at the core of a flexible shaft operated by a foot pedal.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 1,025,804 4/1966 Great Britain.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. G. M. POLUMBUS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR TURNING THE PAGES OF A FOLDER, PARTICULARLY SHEET MUSIC, COMPRISING A SUPPORT ACCOMMODATING SAID FOLDER IN A POSITION CONVENIENT FOR READING, A PLURALITY OF FERROMAGNETIC PAGE-ENGAGING FINGERS EACH ADAPTED TO BE PLACED BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE PAGES OF SAID FOLDER, SAID FINGERS BEING AFFIXED TO PLATES ARRANGED OVER A PIVOT FOR MOVEMENT IN AN ARCUATE PATH IN A PLANE TRANSVERSE TO SAID PAGES, THE ROTATION OF EACH OF SAID FINGERS OVER SAID PIVOT AT SUBSTANTIALLY 180* EFFECTING THE TURNING OF A PAGE, A LIFTING ARM PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED OVER A STUD PLACED ADJACENT TO AND AT A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM SAID PIVOT, SAID ARM DESCRIBING AN ARCUATE PATH IS SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME PLANE AS THE PATH OF SAID FINGERS, THE RADIAL LENGHT OF SAID ARM BEING DIFFERENT THAN THE RADIAL LENGHT OF SAID FINGERS, A PERMANENT MAGNET AFFIXED TO THE END OF SAID ARM AND HAVING A POLE-FACE SURFACE ADAPTED TO ENGAGE AN ADJACENT FINGER, POWER MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ARM IN ONE DIRECTION FROM ENGAGEMENT POSITION OF SAID MAGNET OVER SAID ARCUATE PATH, THE FORCE OF SAID MAGNET CAUSING THE ATTRACTED FINGER TO FOLLOW SAID PATH THEREBY TURNING A PAGE, SAID ATTRACTED FINGER DURING MOVEMENT OVER SAID PIVOT BEING CONSTRAINED DUE TO THE DIFFERENCE IN RADIAL LENGTH AND PIVOT POINTS BETWEEN SAID ARM AND SAID FINGER TO PROGRESSIVELY SLIDE OVER SAID POLE FACE, THE RADIAL DISTANCE BEING SO DIMENSIONED WITH RESPECT TO THE LENGTH OF SAID SURFACE AS TO EFFECT DISENGAGEMENT OF SAID FINGER FROM SAID MAGNET AT THE END OF SAID PAGE-TURNING TRAVEL, SAID ARM UPON ROTATION IN THE REVERSE DIRECTION BEING RETURNED TO PICK UP THE NEXT ADJACENT FINGER. 